Write an ICU Nurse Resume That Shows Real Acuity
ICU nurse resume example with critical care skills, CCRN details, drip and ventilator language, and a guide to writing every section.
Example ICU Nurse summary
CCRN certified critical care nurse with seven years in a 24-bed mixed ICU. Carries 1:1 assignments on ventilated, proned and multi-drip patients, runs CRRT independently, and responds with the rapid response team across the tower. Precepted nine residency nurses through critical care orientation. Seeking a cardiothoracic ICU where post-operative recovery and mechanical support are the daily work.
Skills to list on a ICU Nurse resume
- Mechanical ventilation
- Vasoactive drip titration
- Continuous renal replacement therapy
- Hemodynamic monitoring
- Arterial line management
- Central venous access
- Sedation management
- Prone positioning
- ACLS resuscitation
- Targeted temperature management
- Sepsis bundle compliance
- Rhythm interpretation
- Epic charting
- Family communication in critical illness
- Rapid response
What actually gets this resume read
- Open every job with the ICU type, bed count and nurse to patient ratio, because those three facts define your acuity.
- Name the drips you titrate and the targets you titrate them to rather than writing the phrase critical care medications.
- List the equipment you have run independently: ventilators, CRRT, IABP, Impella, ECMO circuits, targeted temperature management.
- Put CCRN in the header after your name and again in a licenses and certifications block near the top.
- Mention rapid response, code team or transport roles separately, since they signal you can work outside your own four walls.
- If you are moving from step-down to ICU, lead with drips, BiPAP and high-acuity admissions instead of routine discharges.